As disinformation compounds the many issues the world faces in 2020, the need for information literacy skills in adults is more apparent than ever. Librarian Teresa Schmidt presented a 4-session course to look more closely at the nature of information and how it spreads in the modern era, the history of misinformation and disinformation, and the tools you can use to identify quality information or truly “do your own research” to make the choices you need to navigate these complex times. This course was presented for Fe University, a non-accredited education program for older adults in Iron County, Wisconsin.
Week 1: Misinformation, Disinformation, and Fake News
Week 1 presentation slides: PDF, 3.4MB
Resources for further study
- Optional: “The Social Dilemma,” a Netflix original documentary/dramatization.
- Optional: The Wired Guide to Online Conspiracy Theories
Week 2: But why do they do it?
Reading assignments to prepare for week 2
- “The Backfire Effect” – a cartoon by The Oatmeal
- “People Drawn to Conspiracy Theories Share a Cluster of Psychological Features” by Moyer, published in Scientific American
- “A Psychological Approach to Promoting Truth in Politics: The Pro-Truth Pledge” by Gleb Tsipursky, et. al., published in the Journal of Social and Political Psychology. Read the first 5 pages, or more if you are into it!
- Optional: “Beware online ‘filter bubbles” – a TED talk with Eli Pariser (video, 2011, 8 min 49 sec)
- Optional: “The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories” by Douglas, et. al. A literature review published in APS: The Association for Psychological Science.
Resources for further study
- From The Atlantic, “The Supply of Disinformation Will Soon Be Infinite”: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/09/future-propaganda-will-be-computer-generated/616400/
- “Mainstream media as a spreader of fake news”: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23808985.2020.1759443
- From The New York Times Magazine, “The Agency”: www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/magazine/the-agency.html
- The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt – book available from the Mercer Library
Week 3: Identifying bad information
Reading assignments to prepare for week 3
- “Psychological inoculation against fake news” by Sander van der Linden and Jon Roozenbeek, Psychology of Fake News, Chapter 9. Optional: play the game at getbadnews.com
- Combating Fake News, a conference paper from Harvard University, Matthew Baum, et. al.
- “How to combat fake news and disinformation” by Darrell West, Brookings Institution
- “10 ways to have a better conversation” – www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1vskiVDwl4&ab_channel=TED
- Optional: “Your Fake News, Our Facts” by Daphna Oyserman and Andrew Dawson, Psychology of Fake News, Chapter 10. A look at the use of identity politics in the Brexit campaign.
- Optional: Knight Foundation report, Disinformation, ‘Fake News’ and Influence Campaigns on Twitter – executive summary, visualization, full report.
Resources for further study
- Invisible Men: how objectivity in journalism became a matter of opinion – The Economist, July 16, 2020.
- “What to Expect When You’re Electing“ – PEN America
Week 4: Do your research!
Resources for further study
- Mann, Thomas. The Oxford Guide to Library Research, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 2005. Chapter 8: Higher-Level Overviews: Review Articles.
- Feilden, Tom. “Most scientists ‘can’t replicate studies by their peers.'” BBC News, 22 February 2017.
- Beall, Jeffrey. “What I learned from predatory publishers.” Croatian Society of Medical Biochemistry, 2017.
- For general information on scholarly publishing, see The Scholarly Kitchen.